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Screen Australia consults on how to assign AU$20M gaming fund

The government funding body is trying to nut down a framework for distributing the money to the Australian video games industry.
Written by Spandas Lui, Contributor

Screen Australia is seeking industry input on how to distribute AU$20 million worth of government funding to Australian video game companies.

The government funding body for the screen production sector has released a discussion paper to kickstart the process.

Last month, the Federal government announced that it was establishing the fund to bolster the local interactive entertainment's standing in the global marketplace.

AU$5 million will be released every year for the next two years, and then AU$10 million between 2014-15.

Screen Australia, the government's direct funding body for the screen production sector, was assigned the responsibility of doling out the cash. Now, the organisation just needs to figure out the guidelines on how to hand money over to applicants.

The discussion paper proposes several options for a framework through which the money could be assigned.

The first is enterprise funding, which is a hybrid model of support, which covers operational costs and would give gaming companies "the flexibility to assist large developers who are poised for further growth, as well as fostering alliances and partnerships among individuals and small creative teams working in the digital market".

Next is pre-production funding, which is for gaming companies that need money to create game demos, while production funding would assign money to companies that already have a prototype and want to take production to the next level.

"The proposed options are a framework for debate, and Screen Australia is keen to receive input and ideas from the games sector on developing the best possible funding program," Screen Australia said in a statement.

Application for the fund opens in April 2013.

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